


I need you too

by sunsetdawn20



Category: Unter Uns
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, i hate this storyline, why do all my stories of them end in cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 08:56:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14209650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsetdawn20/pseuds/sunsetdawn20
Summary: Ringo finds out about Las Vegas and doesn't react the way Easy would have expected.This fic is very loosely inspired by the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.





	I need you too

Easy is prepared for the worst and Tobias is no help at all, too hurt over KayC to care about anything. Easy had a whole speech planned, with a lot of reassurances and at least seven apologies, but the second they walk through the door there are hugs and balloons and there are too many people around and Ringo is smiling in the softest way and Easy doesn’t know if he can do this.

He quietly explains why KayC isn’t with them so Tobias won’t have to say the words, and while everybody is expressing their support to Tobias, Easy turns to Ringo, who is standing next to him, his hand gently on Easy’s lower back.

“Can we talk?” Easy asks.

Ringo frowns a little but nods. “Sure.”

Ringo follows him to the bottom of the stairs and Easy’s heart beats so fast he needs to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down. This is not how he expected their reunion to go. Ringo seems to notice his nervousness and comfortingly touches Easy’s hip.

“Hey. What’s wrong?”

Before Easy could answer, however, Tobias yells across the room in an annoyed voice:

“Oh just tell him already that we got married. It’s not like he has the moral high ground here.”

Easy shoots him a sharp look and takes Ringo’s hand, pulls him with him up the stairs so they can have some privacy for this conversation. Once they’re in Ringo’s room, sitting on his bed, Easy explains in detail how it could have come to this, how silly the whole thing is, and that he’s really really sorry. Ringo listens with a carefully neutral expression that unnerves Easy. He’s quiet for a few moments after Easy stops talking, then he nods.

“Ok,” he says and gets up from the bed. “Are we going back down?”

“Wait. That’s it?” Easy asks with a frown.

Ringo shrugs. “You said it yourself, it’s just silly, doesn’t mean anything.”

“Right,” Easy says cautiously. Somehow this feels too easy.

“No point in making a fuss about something inconsequential,” Ringo says and opens the door, waits for Easy to follow him downstairs.

\---

“What’s your problem? He seems to be ok with it,” Tobias shrugs after Ringo left for work, taking a sip from his morning coffee.

Easy sighs. “A little too ok.”

“Do you think he’s planning something?”

“What? No!” Easy frowns. “I think he’s really hurt and is trying to hide it.”

Tobias makes an annoyed sound in the back of his throat and Easy decides it’s best to end this conversation before he gets too mad at his best friend.

\---

Elli doesn’t seem to see anything strange in Ringo’s behaviour, and neither does Paco, though he agrees that when Ringo doesn’t want you to know how he’s feeling he’s normally exceptionally good at hiding it. Easy knows that and it’s not helping. He’s not even sure what it is exactly, but something feels off. They still spend every free minute together, Ringo still smiles, still returns every kiss readily, and yet Easy feels like there’s some kind of distance between them that wasn’t there before. But every time he tries to talk about it, Ringo says nothing’s wrong, and it’s getting more and more frustrating.

One evening, when Paco and Elli are out at a party one of her colleagues is throwing, Easy can’t take it anymore.

“This needs to stop,” he says, after dinner as they’re doing dishes together.

Ringo looks at him with a raised eyebrow. “If you want to do the dishes by yourself, be my guest,” he says with a small smile.

“That’s not what I mean,” Easy sighs. “Is this still about that stupid night in Vegas?”

Ringo looks away and continues scrubbing the already clean plate. “You’re the one who keeps bringing it up.”

“Yes, because I think it’s still bothering you and you refuse to talk about it and I don’t understand why.”

Ringo shakes his head and rinses the plate. “What’s the point?” he says quietly and there’s something defeated in his voice that breaks Easy’s heart.

“Hey,” he says softly and reaches out to touch Ringo, but Ringo flinches away and suddenly throws the plate he was holding into the sink where it smashes into little pieces.

Easy looks at Ringo in shock and finally sees the open anger in Ringo’s eyes. But there is something else there too, there’s desperation and hurt in his eyes, and it makes Easy want to reach out again. Ringo sees the motion, turns around and storms up to his room. Easy runs after him, but Ringo doesn’t open the door for him.

\---

Next morning Easy is already lying awake in bed, thinking about ways of appeasing Ringo, when there’s a knock on his bedroom door.

“What is it, Tobias?” he calls out.

There’s a moment’s pause. “It’s me,” Ringo says quietly.

Easy jumps out of bed and opens the door. “Hey,” he smiles softly. “Listen about last night…”

He can’t finish the sentence because suddenly Ringo’s lips are on him and he’s being gently pushed further inside the room, so Ringo can close the bedroom door behind himself.

“Ringo,” Easy says when Ringo starts kissing down his neck, hands gliding under Easy’s t-shirt. “We should… talk.”

“Not now,” Ringo breathes hotly against Easy’s skin and gently but firmly starts pushing him towards the bed.

\---

Easy turns over and can’t stop grinning. His breathing is still somewhat uneven, his heart is still racing, and his skin feels on fire from Ringo’s touches.

“You know,” he says with a laugh. “We should argue more often if this is the result.”

“We didn’t argue,” Ringo says, eyes closed.

Easy presses a soft kiss against Ringo’s shoulder. “So this wasn’t amazing make-up sex, then?” he teases softly.

Ringo opens his eyes and turns on his side to look into Easy’s eyes. “This was a reminder.”

“Of what?”

“That you love me,” Ringo says quietly.

Easy frowns, cups Ringo’s face and brushes his thumb over his boyfriend’s cheek. “I don’t need a reminder.”

For just a moment he thinks he can see something infinitely vulnerable in Ringo’s eyes but it’s gone right away and Ringo leans in for a slow, deep kiss that leaves Easy breathless again. When Ringo pulls back he’s smiling and so is Easy.

“So we’re ok?” Easy asks, just to make sure.

Ringo nods. “Yeah,” he says but then gets out of bed.

“Where are you going?” Easy frowns as he watches Ringo getting dressed.

“Well, some of us actually have work to go to,” Ringo says with a little sarcastic tilt to his voice, which comforts Easy more than anything. Maybe things are going to be ok, after all. He drops back on the bed and grins up at the ceiling.

“Ah the joys of being my own boss.”

Ringo laughs softly. “Sure, go ahead and lose your remaining customers.”

Easy rolls his eyes and sits up again. “You’re no fun.”

Ringo smirks at him and comes over to press a quick kiss to Easy’s lips. “I’ll see you in my lunch break.”

\---

_Hey, sorry, can we go to the cinema tomorrow instead? Tobias needs a distraction._

It takes almost five minutes for Ringo to reply: _Ok. Will you still come over for dinner?_

Easy types quickly: _Of course._

In the end the afternoon of computer games and crime shows quickly devolves into Tobias quietly brooding over the one beer Easy allows him to have, and by the time Easy deems it safe to leave him alone, it’s already 10pm.

“Hey,” Easy says to Elli and Paco, who are sitting on the sofa watching TV.

“How’s Tobias?” Elli asks.

Easy pulls a face and they seem to understand. “Sorry I missed dinner.”

“There’s still some left,” Elli says.

Then Paco adds with a knowing grin: “Ringo wouldn’t eat without you.”

“Really?” Easy can’t help but smile. “Was he very angry?”

Elli and Paco shrug. “Well,” Paco says “He did spend half an hour working out in his room. But, you know. Could be worse.”

“Bathroom. He just had a shower,” Elli says before Easy could ask.

He walks over to the bathroom, since he can’t hear the shower running anymore, he knocks on the door. It takes a few moments before Ringo answers.

“Yeah?”

“It’s me. Can I come in?”

There’s another short pause Easy can’t interpret, then Ringo unlocks the door. His hair is wet and he’s wearing a t-shirt and pyjama bottoms and he looks so soft, Easy’s heart swells with love.

“Hey,” he says. “Sorry about…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ringo says, with just a hint of edge to his voice and leans down for a slow, gentle kiss that just goes on and on until they hear Elli clear her throat. When he looks over his shoulder, Easy can see both his friends grinning.

“We’ll leave you two alone,” Paco says in a suggestive voice and reaches for his crutches.

“You know, just in case dinner should lead to… other things,” Elli laughs and Paco joins in as they are making their way to their bedroom.

“You’re annoying,” Ringo calls after them and when Easy looks back at him, he can still catch the tail end of Ringo rolling his eyes at their friends. It’s only then Easy notices the slight redness of Ringo’s eyes. It’s barely there, and he’s not quite sure if it really means what he thinks it means, but he asks anyway:

“Is everything ok?”

Ringo smiles at him like it’s the easiest thing in the world and says: “Of course, come, I’m starving.”

\---

They eat dinner, then get through about twenty minutes of a movie before they get too distracted my each other and go up to Ringo’s room instead. Easy makes sure to take his time, keeps slowly kissing Ringo until he’s breathing hard and can’t bite back little noises that Easy is deeply in love with. They don’t get to spend as much time together as Easy wishes they would and he savours every single second of being in Ringo’s arms.

They lie together afterwards, Easy curled around Ringo’s back, his arm around Ringo, and their fingers entwined.

“Ringo?” Easy asks softly, pressing his nose to the back of his boyfriend’s neck.

“Hm?”

“If I ask you something, will you answer honestly?”

Ringo is quiet for a moment, then he nods.

“Did you cry earlier because I cancelled our plans?”

“No,” Ringo says.

Easy sighs and starts to pull away but Ringo tightens his hold on Easy’s hand.

“Not… because you cancelled,” he says quietly.

“Because of Vegas?”

Ringo makes a dismissive sound.

“What then?”

Ringo shrugs, he probably doesn’t even notice but he’s holding Easy’s hand so tight, it’s beginning to feel numb.

“You will always choose him over me. And I get why, it’s just…” He shrugs.

Easy opens his mouth to protest, then thinks about the past weeks and instead says: “I’m sorry. And I’m not, I want to be with you all the time, but he needs me right now. This isn’t forever.”

“I need you too,” Ringo says quietly and the raw emotion in his voice overwhelms Easy so much that he can’t say anything, just leans closer and kisses Ringo, hoping he can convey at least a fraction of his love with it.


End file.
